A MICROCHIP capable of detecting eye infections within minutes has been developed by scientists.
Among the infections the prototype device can spot are those caught from wearing dirty contact lenses.
The chip is able to measure the properties of a single bacteria such as E.coli at high speed.
This removes the need to grow cultures in the laboratory or use antibiotic sensitive testing which can take between 48 hours and two weeks to provide results.
Engineers worked with ophthalmologists at University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust (UHS) for tests using laboratory-infected tissue samples.
Corneal infections occur when the eye is damaged by a foreign object and through the growth of bacteria and other micro-organisms often due to contaminated contact lenses.
Parwez Hossain, an ophthalmologist at UHS, said: The cornea is only half a millimetre thick and infections spread rapidly, so timely treatment is important. These findings [could help] to deliver the correct antibiotics immediately.'
© Daily Mail